The Simpsons: "O Brother, Where Bart Thou"Review

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Guest voices abound as Bart schemes for a younger brother.

By Robert Canning

With its focus on Bart's longing for a little brother, "O Brother, Where Bart Thou?" was a fun and entertaining outing for The Simpsons. Packed with guest voices, the episode did well by sticking to one main story instead of adding a weaker "B" storyline to fill out the half hour. Though Bart may never get his younger brother, we at least got a quality episode after a couple less than impressive installments.

Things began with Springfield getting hit by a snowstorm, causing the schools to shut down and giving Bart a snow day. Comically, the weather prevented Bart from ever getting outside, and once stuck in the house, a power outage prevented Bart from enjoying his videogames and DVDs. Bart's attempt to watch "Itchy and Scratchy" using the electricity he could generate from rubbing a balloon against his hair was a highlight of his struggle to find something to do. Meanwhile, Lisa and Maggie were playing together and enjoying their sisterly bond. Bart tried to play with his sisters, but was put off by their dress-up game. Bart tried to cover for having no one to play with by insisting he was "a bad ass loner like Wolverine, who leaves whenever people beg him to stay."

That evening, despite claiming no dream could convince him he needed a little brother, a dream convinced Bart he needed a little brother. The dream was a lot of fun, starting with cameos from the Marx Brothers and the Blues Brothers. We also got a glimpse of Sideshow Bob and his brother Cecil flying kites together. The series, of late, seems to be referencing older episodes more often. Whether a conscious decision because of the anniversary season, or just a coincidence, it works as a short cut to reminiscent laughs. This episode also had Barney as The Plow King. No real joke was involved, but it brought a smile to this long-time fan's face.

Other notables in Bart's brother dream were the Manning brothers Peyton and Eli, plus their older brother Cooper. If you don't know, Cooper was also on track for a professional football career until he was sidelined by injury, so his bragging about high school achievements to his Super Bowl winning brothers was funny and bittersweet. The Smothers Brothers cameo (and closing credit dialogue—"naked bacon") was also a lot of fun, for anyone old enough to know whom the Smothers Brothers are. Now wanting a younger brother, Bart set out to make it happen.

This was a fine storyline, and offered up a number of great bits. Bart's failed attempts to trick his parents into fornicating were enjoyable, including Marge and Homer attempting a position from the Kama Sutra: "You're ankle goes there." "Hand me your neck." The South Park reference was cute, but lacked any real joke. Bart imagining his future with a third sister was also fun, with Kim Cattrall offering up another guest voice for the episode.

Bart's one day with a little brother (an orphan voiced by Jordan Nagai, Russell from Up) was also enjoyable. It offered up my favorite line of the episode ("He's just like Annie, except he's a dude and he hates tomorrow.") plus it taught us a great lesson about poking dead animals with a stick: "Don't go straight for the eyes. Build up to it." Best of all, like the better Simpsons episodes, it ended with a sweet moment reminding us that even with all his shortcomings, Bart will always have his dad… to watch torture porn R-rated movies with.